Articles by Eleanor Stratton

Why a Federal Takeover of Chicago Isn’t Like D.C.

From the Oval Office on Friday, after weeks of exercising direct federal control over Washington, D.C., the President turned his attention to a new target. “Chicago’s a mess,” he declared, before adding ominously, “We’ll straighten that one out probably next.” This is not a mere...

Justice Jackson Accuses Supreme Court of Rigging Cases for Trump in “Scathing” Dissent

A sitting Supreme Court Justice has, in a formal written opinion, accused her own colleagues of playing a child’s game with the law of the land. In a scathing dissent to an emergency ruling, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson declared that the Court’s majority seems to be operating under the rules...

CBO Confirms Trump’s New Law Will Trigger Sequestration, Leading to Major Cuts in Medicare Funding

For ninety years, Social Security and Medicare have formed the bedrock of economic and health security for America’s seniors. These programs represent a constitutional promise, enacted under Congress’s power to provide for the “general Welfare.” Now, the President’s signature legislative...

Appeals Court Sides with Trump, Pausing Protections for 60,000 Immigrants Fleeing Disaster

A legal and humanitarian battle is raging in our federal courts over the fate of 60,000 immigrants. The Trump administration is moving to end their “Temporary Protected Status” (TPS), while a lower court judge has accused the administration of acting with “racial and discriminatory animus.”...

Trump Takes a Victory Lap in D.C., Vows to Join Police on Patrol After a “Nice Victory” in Court

In a fiery speech celebrating the federal takeover of Washington, D.C., the President of the United States announced he would personally join federal and local police on the streets of the capital. This is not a routine visit with law enforcement. It is a powerful and constitutionally unprecedented...

Trump Signals Major Shift in Ukraine Policy, Suggests Allowing Strikes on Russian Territory

With a simple sports metaphor posted to social media, the President of the United States may have just signaled a dramatic and perilous escalation in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Declaring that a team cannot win by “only playing defense,” he has publicly questioned the long-standing...

SCOTUS Deals Blow to Big Tech, But Kavanaugh’s “Likely Unconstitutional” Warning Signals the Real Fight is Coming

In a cryptic, unsigned order from its “shadow docket,” the Supreme Court has refused to block a sweeping new Mississippi law designed to police social media to protect children. But in a stunning twist, Justice Brett Kavanaugh sent a powerful and contradictory signal in a separate opinion,...

Hillary Clinton Faces Disbarment as Watchdog Files Ethics Complaint Over Her Role in “Russiagate Hoax”

The political and legal wars over the 2016 election are far from over. A new and constitutionally troubling front has just opened in this long battle. A government watchdog group has filed a formal ethics complaint with the Arkansas Bar, seeking to investigate and potentially disbar former...

Federal Judge Rejects DOJ Request to Release Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts

For the third time, a federal judge has slammed the door on the Trump administration’s attempt to unseal secret grand jury records in the Jeffrey Epstein case. This series of judicial rebukes is not a conspiracy to hide the truth. It is a powerful and unified stand by the judicial branch to...

Texas Democrats Try to Hijack Redistricting Bill with Epstein Files, GOP Speaker Shuts Them Down

On the floor of the Texas House of Representatives this week, a dramatic attempt was made to attach the explosive national controversy over the Jeffrey Epstein files to a must-pass redistricting bill. The effort was shut down not by a dramatic floor vote, but by a quiet, powerful, and rarely...

Trump Administration Now Offering $500 Cash for Tips Leading to Arrests in D.C. Crime Crackdown

The federal takeover of Washington, D.C. has entered a new and constitutionally troubling phase. The administration, touting the success of its crime crackdown, has now authorized the U.S. Marshals Service to offer $500 cash rewards for any tip from the public that leads to an arrest. While this...

Russia Bombs Less Than a Mile From NATO Border, Forcing a Terrifying Test of the Alliance

As American and European leaders were discussing a path to peace for Ukraine in Washington, Russian missiles were raining down on Ukrainian port facilities. The strikes landed less than a mile from the border of Romania. In that instant, a foreign conflict came a missile’s-width away from the...

Melania Trump Takes Larger Role on World Stage with Personal Letter to Putin on Ukraine War

As presidents and prime ministers debate the hard edges of a peace deal for Ukraine – territory, treaties, and security guarantees – a second, quieter track of diplomacy has opened. A sealed letter was passed from an American president to a Russian one in Alaska. Days later, a Ukrainian...

DNI Gabbard Revokes Security Clearances for 37 Former and Current Intelligence Officials

A security clearance is the essential key that grants access to America’s most sensitive secrets. In a dramatic and sweeping move on Tuesday, the nation’s top intelligence official, at the direction of President Trump, revoked that key for 37 current and former intelligence officials. This is...

Trump Gives “Assurance” of No U.S. Troops in Ukraine as Part of Peace Framework

In the wake of his high-stakes summit with Ukrainian and European leaders, President Trump has made a powerful and seemingly definitive promise to the American people. He declared on Tuesday that there will be “no U.S. troops defending Ukraine’s border,” an “assurance” he suggested would...

Fighting Fire with Fire: Newsom’s Push to Redraw California Maps Faces Bipartisan Opposition at Home

“Donald Trump, you have poked the bear and we will punch back,” California Governor Gavin Newsom recently declared. The “punch” he is proposing is a plan to dismantle his own state’s celebrated, voter-approved independent redistricting commission in order to draw a new, partisan...

Trump, Citing Putin, Vows To Change Voting Laws Ahead Of Midterms

In a constitutionally alarming development, the President of the United States, fresh from a summit with the autocratic leader of Russia, is now citing that leader’s “advice” as the basis for a new campaign to overhaul the American election system. Citing Vladimir Putin, President Trump is...

Fired Trump Official Alleges “Corrupt Lobbyists” and “Bribes” Control the Justice Department

A recently fired top official from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has accused his former superiors of corruption, alleging they allowed “corrupt lobbyists” to pervert justice in the handling of a major technology merger. Roger Alford, the former No. 2 official in the division,...

Putin Sends a Brutal Message During Zelenskyy’s White House Peace Summit

In the stately, climate-controlled quiet of the White House, the President of the United States met with his Ukrainian counterpart to discuss the delicate framework of a potential peace deal. At that very moment, half a world away, Russian drones were slamming into a residential building in...

Comeback Kid? Sherrod Brown Launches Bid to Take Back Ohio Senate Seat from Trump’s GOP

A political veteran, narrowly defeated after decades in office, is stepping back into the arena for a high-stakes rematch. Former Senator Sherrod Brown’s announcement that he will run for his old Ohio Senate seat in 2026 sets the stage for one of the most closely watched races of the midterm...